| By using a method of comparative institutional analysis, this dissertation studies library governance, which is defined as "an institutional arrangement and its implement through which a certain group of people jointly obtain their expected and cherished library services".The dissertation is divided into six parts for a total of nine chapters. The first part (Chapter 1) presents a brief introduction to the subject. In the second part (Chapter 2), the author analyzes the physical attributes of library services, and affirms the possibility and necessity of obtaining library services through collective actions. Meanwhile, the author points out that the essence of collective actions is a political decision-making process and clarifies its internal limitations and conflict of interest.In the third part(Chapter 3 4 and 5), the author differentiates several specific organizational forms (library governance unit) that "a certain group of people" organize or be organized, which include family, association, institution (college, university, school, etc.), local government which can provide direct library services for local residents, and some new forms combined by above units. University library, autonomic city library and county library in USA, and public library in China, which are four kinds of elementary library governance, are studied in detail as well as four kinds of combined library governance, which are federated library system, consolidated library system, joint library and public library district.The succeeding part four (Chapter 6) is a connecting link between the preceding and the following parts. The author summarizes several organizational forms, which a certain group of people organizes or be organized to obtain library services, analyzes the internal government mechanism through which each form can be maintained and 昬ven set up and govern library, and points out the coherence relationship between organization form and governance mechanism. And then, by using the method of institutional analysis based on game theory, the gambling relations between stakeholders under each mechanism is analyzed, and the author discusses the important influence of four institutional environment factors to library governance: consciousness and practice of rights of "obtaining library services", structure of public power, library guild and legislation on library.The fifth part (Chapter 7 8) systemically reviews the evolvement of library governance in both United State and China. It has been found out that the evolution oflibrary governance in U.S. is an internal, natural and gradual process. Respect to Civil rights and relatively perfect democratic system facilitate harmonious governance among the stakeholders. The evolution in China, on the contrary, is an external, unnatural and discontinuous process. Ignorance to Civil rights and undeveloped democratic system under which citizens cannot fully hold the right of library service obstruct the people from obtaining good library services.In the sixth part (Chapter 9), the author concludes that whether or not and how a certain group of people obtain their expected and even cherished library services is highly related to democracy. Democracy is not only the objective of library development, but also the means of library development, and even is the library development itself. Actually library development is a process to continuously enlarge and deepen people's democratic rights on library and librarianship. According to the current situation in China, the author eventually puts forward some public policy suggestions from the point of institutional reformation to advance library governance in China.
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